The War of Resistance: My Expedition, My Country

Chapter 203 Commander Lin, the one who stole the chicken but lost the rice

After the meeting, Liu Helin was stopped by Lao Zhu. Lao Zhu said, "The way you two treated our friendly forces is very bad. We are now a whole. According to the agreement reached between the two parties, the army will eventually be unified under the name of the country. It will no longer be the army of one party. The government is already reorganizing, and the army is also integrating. This time on the Soviet battlefield, you should see that there is no distinction between us, only the name of the Chinese Army!"

"Although General Huang is young, his strategic foresight surpasses many. He doesn't care who his troops are assigned to or who commands them. Take, for example, Old Liu's appointment of you as Deputy Chief of Staff. It was he who took the initiative to raise the issue. He originally intended to let you take the position of Chief of Staff, but the higher-ups disagreed, so they compromised and appointed you as Deputy Chief of Staff."

Old Liu nodded and said with emotion, "General Huang had already spoken with me in Ubezinsk. I know he recommended me for the position of Chief of Staff. As for the annexation of the 598th Division, it was also his instruction. He knew that our troops were too weak to transform into a modern army. He suggested that after the Battle of Stalingrad, the 598th Division be disbanded and distributed among the other divisions to form the basic backbone so that we could quickly establish our mechanized forces."

Lin also said, "When I took over Lao Peng's 115th Group Army, I discovered that many of the backbones of the mechanized forces came from the 200th Group Army. It was they who told me that I knew the 200th Group Army had an even more powerful special operations regiment. General Zhu, I was indeed petty. My old habit came back and I swallowed up his special operations regiment."

Old Zhu pointed at Lin and said, "You, you, when we were training in Kulun, General Huang had secretly selected key personnel to assist us in training. Later, we packed up and took all of these key personnel away. What you don't know is that because we left in a hurry, General Huang even transferred all the tanks and artillery that the United States had prepared for the 200th Army to us. Otherwise, how would we have fought the German army head-on and gained a firm foothold in the Soviet Union?"

"Since the special operations regiment has been disbanded, you must quickly select outstanding soldiers to form a new special operations regiment and hand it over to General Huang. Don't be cunning and make sure to give it to the best soldiers. I believe General Huang will quickly establish a new special operations regiment."

"By the way, don't use that old trick of yours with the 343A and B tank divisions anymore. There won't be any more unnumbered units in the Flower Farming Country. And don't try to take advantage of them."

Lin's two 343rd Tank Divisions ultimately failed to retain their positions. Under Zhu's insistence, the 343B was reorganized into the 301rd Expeditionary Force's direct tank division, designated the 598st Tank Division. The division comprised of the remaining personnel from the 302th Division, which Liu BC had embezzled, was also reorganized into the nd Armored Division, also under the direct jurisdiction of the Expeditionary Force Headquarters. It could be said that the two men had lost more than they gained.

The 200th Group Army lost a division and a special operations regiment, significantly reducing its size. Fortunately, with the arrival of the third wave of troops, the 200th Division was restored to full strength. Due to its unique nature, the 200th Group Army lacked a deputy commander. Huang Wei originally planned to appoint Wang Congwu as deputy commander, but due to concerns about his seniority and potential influence, this move was ultimately abandoned. Wang Congwu currently serves as the deputy chief of staff of the 200th Group Army, while Liu Molong serves as the commander of the 600th Division. Huang Wei then reorganized the 600th Division by transferring key personnel from the 200th Division and combining them with the remaining 598th Group Army troops stationed in Kulun, Outer Mongolia, who arrived with the third wave. The 200th Group Army now comprises the 598th, 599th, 600th, 601st, and 602nd Divisions. The 600th and 599th are tank divisions, the 598th and 601st are armored divisions, and the 602nd is a motorized division. These divisions remain the primary pillars of the Third Expeditionary Force.

German Army Group South headquarters quickly received intelligence of every Sino-Soviet move across the strait. Pressured by the newly increased Chinese forces, the Führer was forced to redeploy some of the Western Front's defensive forces to the East. Newly formed German units were also deployed to the East, including numerous SS Grenadier Divisions. The 1st and 2nd Cavalry Armies of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, after entering the Ukrainian plains, launched a series of offensives that dealt a heavy blow to the German rear. The Germans clearly realized that concentrating Army Group South on the Stalingrad front was futile and unhelpful.

After careful planning, the General Staff proposed to the Führer a plan to split Army Group South. This would facilitate the flexible deployment of forces and provide a clearer strategic direction. The German army quickly reorganized itself. Field Marshal Fedor von Bock was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Army Group A, with Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus as Chief of Staff. Army Group B was composed of the 1st, 6th, 8th, 11th, and 17th Armies. Field Marshal Manstein was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Army Group B, with Field Marshal Walter Model as Chief of Staff. Army Group B comprised the 4th, 7th, 15th, and 23rd Armies, as well as the 3rd SS Army. The main force of Army Group A remained on the Stalingrad front, awaiting an opportunity to break out eastward, aiming for the Urals and Orenburg lines, aiming to completely destroy the Soviet Union's last deep industrial zone. Army Group B would recapture Rostov, advance into the Caucasus, rescue the trapped German forces there, recapture the region's oil reserves, and then launch an offensive into the Middle East. At this time, Turkey, under heavy pressure from the Axis powers, was already showing signs of abandoning its neutrality and joining the Axis.

The first Chinese troops to be attacked by Army Group B were the cavalry units that had entered Ukraine. After the German army lost the Rostov line, the 23rd Army stationed in Ukraine defended Taganrog and Azov. German reinforcements continued to come through the Sea of ​​​​Azov, putting tremendous pressure on Rostov. After receiving reinforcements from the 4th Army, the remnants of the 7th Army controlled the Luhansk and Sverlovsk lines. After the arrival of the urgently dispatched 15th Army of the German army, it immediately attacked the Schacht line and once again controlled the railway line north of Rostov. After the 3rd SS Army came from the western front, it immediately began to encircle the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Armies, forcing the cavalry units to leave eastern Ukraine. Part of them retreated to the east of Rostov, and part was encircled and had to turn to southern Ukraine.

After urgent consultations with Huang Wei, Lao Peng ordered the 17th Army on the Stalingrad front to move south immediately, and ordered the Soviet 55th Army to continue to the northwest to put pressure on the remnants of the German 1st Army Group A. At the same time, he ordered the 115th Army to end its rest and regroup as soon as possible, and ordered the 35th Army to quickly advance southward to join the Soviet Southern Front's forces attacking the Caucasus region, continue southward, control the area east of the Sea of ​​Azov, and cut off German reinforcements to the Caucasus.